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• Briefs: Expectations high for new Pfizer drug  

A new drug from Pfizer awaiting approval in the United States promises to revolutionize treatment for a smoking-related lung disease and should become the latest blockbuster for Pfizer, doctors and analysts said.

The inhaled medicine, called Spiriva, promises to be the new first choice of treatment for an estimated 16 million Americans with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, known as COPD. [This graph only]

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• Chronic Lung Obstruction Now a Woman's Disease 

The death rate from chronic lung obstruction has tripled among American women in the last two decades, according to a new government report that also shows the disease in general is vastly under-diagnosed.

As many as 24 million Americans suffer symptoms of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), mostly due to smoking, the report says. But 14 million of them aren't properly diagnosed with these health problems, which include chronic bronchitis and emphysema, it adds.

Not only is the prevalence of COPD about 2.4 times higher than physicians formally determine, but women are now more likely than men to die from the disorder, according to the new figures.

"COPD is now a woman's disease," says Dr. David Mannino, a lung expert at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and lead author of the surveillance report. Mannino blames the "alarming" increase on the rise in smoking among women after World War II. . .

The rate of death from the disease among women tripled between 1980 and 2000, from 20 per 100,000 to 57 per 100,000. It rose much more modestly among men, from 73 to 82 per 100,000, during that period.

But in the year 2000, government officials say, there were 59,936 female deaths from COPD in 2000 vs. 59,118 male deaths.

Smoking is believed to account for 80 to 85 percent of COPD cases in the United States . . .

Hurd's group wants doctors to take a more active role in screening their patients, particularly smokers, for evidence of lung impairment. That includes using a device called a spriometer that measures airway function, and not simply relying on self-reported complaints.

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• Lung Ailments Often Go Undiagnosed in the US 

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is underdiagnosed in the US, chiefly in its milder and more treatable forms, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia reported on Thursday.

COPD includes several diseases that inhibit lung function, such as chronic bronchitis, emphysema and asthma.

During 2000, roughly 10 million US adults reported receiving a diagnosis of COPD from their physician. But data from a national survey indicate that roughly 24 million US adults have impaired lung function. . . "We have evidence from national surveys that a substantial 14% of the population has objective evidence of mild-to-moderate COPD, but a relatively small proportion of them, roughly 30%, have actually been diagnosed with COPD, " he said. . .

"These data confirm that COPD is now a women's health disease, " Mannino said. "The increase in these trends for women probably reflects the increase in smoking among women in the US since the 1940s."

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• Symposium Reveals Women to Surpass Men as Victims of COPD 

Within the next few years, researchers believe more women than men will die from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). That's according to data presented here today at the 97th International Conference of the American Thoracic Society (ATS).

COPD, a respiratory illness resulting primarily from smoking tobacco, is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States. Historically, COPD has been a respiratory illness affecting far more men than women. However, the data that six internationally renowned pulmonary researchers presented here today reveals that smoking rates since 1964 have decreased much more slowly among women -- 33 percent to 26 percent -- as compared to men -- 51 percent to 27 percent. This change is attributed to aggressive cigarette advertising campaigns targeting women, as well as an increased number of women in the workforce exposed to second-hand smoke and pollution.

Fears of depression or weight gain are two major factors that discourage women from attempting smoking cessation as often as men, researchers believe. . .

The symposium was sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

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• Study highlights hidden lung disease 

Millions of people in the United States are suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and don't even know it, according to a new study.

"It's the Rodney Dangerfield of chronic diseases," said Dr. Sam Giordano, executive director of American Association for Respiratory Care (AARC). But he believes better public screenings and better education for both doctors and patients will help.

AARC is joining the American Lung Association (ALA), the National Lung Health Education Program (NLHEP) and the American College of Chest Physicians and in a national education campaign to raise awareness of the condition.

The groups want to "let people know about the very great impact COPD is having on American lives," explained Dr. Norman Edelman, a scientific consultant and spokesman for the ALA.

COPD is the 4th leading cause of death in the United States, killing more than 112,000 people each year, according to the lung association.

The study, funded by pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, highlights two points, said Dr. Jill Ohar, a professor of medicine at St. Louis University and a consultant on the survey. "First, there are many more patients out there with COPD than carry a firm diagnosis from a doctor and, secondly, patients are more symptomatic than they tell."

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• Asthma drugs don't help smokers 

Commonly prescribed inhaled medications called corticosteroids produce very little long-term benefit for patients with a debilitating lung condition called chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and elsewhere have found.

The discovery is important because the disease affects about 16 million Americans and kills more than 100,000 annually, making it the fourth leading cause of death in the country. Prevalence of the disease is on the rise, particularly among American women, who are smoking more.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is a collective description for chronic bronchitis and emphysema. Scientists believe the disease is caused primarily by cigarette smoking, which triggers airway inflammation and a progressive decline in lung function.

In a study published in today's edition of the New England Journal of Medicine, the researchers found that corticosteroids do not inhibit the decline in lung function caused by the disease. The drugs also offer only a slight reduction in specific flare-ups and produce unwanted side effects, including slight bone loss and more instances of skin bruising.

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